Natural Doctrine Promises Deep Strategy On PlayStation In September

Strategy RPGs aren't exactly commonplace these days, so fans of the genre might want to pay special attention to Natural Doctrine, a new game from NIS America that takes loads of SRPG pillars and plugs them into a dark and brooding experience in a whole new way.

As is becoming more and more common, Natural Doctrine will be spreading the love when it releases on Sept. 23, arriving for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita all in one go. So, no matter which Sony platform you like to call home, you can get in some old school SRPG action with some new school twists.

NIS America Marketing Coordinator, David Alonzo, recently dropped by the PlayStation Blog to drop some new details for the game that's due out in a month, as well as show off this latest trailer featuring a look at Natural Doctrine's unique systems, strategic gameplay and crushing difficulty.

Also becoming more common in the Sony camp is the ability to cross-save your experiences with games that launch on multiple platforms, which just so happens to the be case with Natural Doctrine. No matter which of the three consoles you're currently playing on, you can upload your save to the cloud and keep right on trucking from either of the other two.

For fans of deep strategy, Alonzo said that Natural Doctrine has got you covered.

“This game is sure to be a challenge and a half, even for the most weathered strategists,” he said “...The trailer gives folks a bit of an idea of how they can customize the experience with Natural Doctrine, and how they can adapt to survive it. The game's got a lot of depth that isn't immediately apparent, and we give a glimpse of some of that here.

As is mentioned in a pull quote from the trailer, Natural Doctrine looks to be largely influenced by games like XCOM and Fire Emblem, so here's hoping that if those two games were to get together, they'd make a great baby. As Alonzo goes on to explain, players are going to be able to craft this particular SRPG experience to their liking, with loads upon loads of options to pick from.

“And there's a ton of adjusting that you can do in Natural Doctrine,” he continued. “The producer, Kensuke Tanaka, wanted the game to be one of the deepest strategy games out there, and he totally did it. The characters in your party have flexibility with what weapon they're using and how you apply their skill points between levels can completely change the way you approach a level.”

So, if you find a certain level is absolutely wrecking your crew, maybe feel free to finagle some options and create a party that's especially geared at taking down a particular set of baddies. Or just keep losing over and over again. It's your call.